Phantom gets a Cupcake
by Omicron the IceQueen
Summary: Sometimes... you're just having a bad day. So much that you fall out of your card. This Phantom would like a new suit now too, please... hey, his master is kind of cute- what's that thing on wheels? And what is the pink thing? Cupcake?


Story is Co-Authored by Dreamy-Chan and Omicron The IceQueen

**Queen's notes:** Okay, quick note, Cassidy is something I made up, a Paper-Witch, a modern caster that evolved within the last 200 years from wood\frost type casters, so 'new' but in their field strong. Though all things considering even being a white-witch ['good'] their not all that strong in comparison to other casters and mages.

This is an AU story based on another that DC and I are working on, '_Isis, This Isn't Egypt_' will come out after another go through for editing. This scenario though not fitting into that story was just too good to pass up so here you are! Please enjoy the read.

Cassidy and The Kar are both my characters

**DC's notes: **Pretty much summed up by Queen, actually. Tonio's my little creation, and I love him dearly, even when he tries to be annoying. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy it lots!

**Phantom gets a Cupcake**

Coming awake was good and bad. Good, yes, for he wasn't dead and not in the Graveyard. But a lot of things hurt, and he was face down in the grass...? Yep this was grass he was on and it was painfully bright in the mortal spring sun. Among all the different things going on and aching, was the feeling of something on top of the Monster, sitting on his back the something was warm but oddly light at the same time.

The something, rather someone was humming while using the Monster's own hat to fan his face and make a semi cool breeze on his crimson skin.

It took him a little while to really register what was going on. Most of what he could understand was grass, obnoxiously bright sunlight, a pounding headache, and something waving at his head, pushing air past his face. "Nrgh..." He mumbled dazedly before coughing. He was in too much pain to talk, and too dazed to care if he made stupid noises. He just hoped that whoever was sitting on him wasn't going to try taking him for 'round two'. The first go at it was bad enough.

The hat was withdrawn, placed on the someone's head for now before small hands pressed down to rub at the Monster's neck, under his tangled hair, that itself would help but there was also the feeling of warm magic of a healing spell. "You okay?"

He didn't do much at first, but when he felt the magic he jerked a little, wincing because of his own movement. "Urg... um... yeah, I think so..." He mumbled. "Where... am I right now? I know there's the term 'knocked clean to Cleveland', but... I sincerely hope that isn't real..."

"Not that far, just to Bellingham," A girl's voice said, still rubbing in the light spell. "Stop jerking, you're going to hurt yourself more."

He shivered a little. "Sorry... wait... Bellingham... hm..." He quieted down as he just let the girl work the magic into his skin. "...this might be a stupid question... what's your name?" He coughed, wincing again as he did so. "Uhg... whoever hit me... hit me reeeaaaal good..."

The fingers tried to tease out some of the tangles in his hair, "Cassidy. You kind of...fell out of my Deck..." She tried to explain.

"I... fell out of your deck..." He repeated, opening his black eyes and trying to look at her, though he didn't give it a grand effort, considering the ouch-factors involved with moving. "... so... that must mean you're my mistress, eh Dolly?"

"Dolly?" The human blinked several times at that, having been called a wide range of things but not that. She shifted on his back and leaned over the phantom's shoulder, pulling back his currently white hair, while her own long braid rested on her back, to look at him in the eyes, if a bit upside down.

He squinted at her a bit, letting his eyes adjust a little more before he opened them a little wider. "Dang... you're a cute one too...I really lucked out..." He mumbled under his breath before saying a little louder. "Nice to meet you, Dolly... the name's Tonio."

She squeaked softly and flushed at his first comment, "Um... nice to meet you too?"

"Glad to hear it..." He said with a small smile. "So... you're a magic person... yeah? I could feel something going on earlier that wasn't painful, so I figure you were doing something."

"It was a light healing spell... I'm a paper witch." She said, hesitating a bit, "I wasn't sure if it would work so I didn't want to do something bigger."

"A... paper witch...?" He repeated curiously, "Haven't heard of that one before... well, whatever the case, thanks. I feel a fair bit better already."

"I think you need a date with some conditioner... and a few hair brushes," Cassidy said leaning back and lifting a tangled lock of hair. She looked down, adding, "...and a washing machine."

"Oh geez... am I that much of a mess?" He asked awkwardly. "Sheesh, normally I never let myself get this out of joint... uhg... half my style is looking classy..."

"Kinda," Cassidy nodded as she shifted to sit up on her knees and pressed her fingers into his right shoulder, for that looked a _bit_ worse off then the other... and yep, "Um, this is going to hurt..."

Tonio blinked a little. "Eh, what?" He asked, blinking slowly before grimacing. "Ehm... okay then."

The black haired girl didn't give the Monster much time to think about it before having to pretty much jump on him, forcing the joint back into place along with a small spike of magic. She already had a buffer up incase Tonio was vocal about getting his arm back in the right angle.

It was a good thing she put up a buffer, because he let out a sharp yell before clenching his jaw. "G-geez, wh-what did you just do?!" He half exclaimed, half spluttered through his gritted teeth.

"I put your shoulder back together from being shattered," Cassidy said calmly, working on another, now stronger healing spell to rub into that same shoulder, "I _said_ that it was going to hurt."

"Y-yeah... thanks for the heads up..." He breathed, relaxing his jaw as he tried to make the rest of himself lose the tension that wasn't likely to be leaving any time soon. "Shikes that hurt... b-but... thanks, Dolly... Glad'ja fixed it..." He sounded genuine enough, and likely was, but the fact that he was probably biting back a few curse words made it a little hard to tell.

"I _think_ that's the last big spot..." Cassidy said as she looked around on the white jacket back she was still sitting on, "You can move your neck? Twitch and flex fingers and toes?"

He paused to consider what she said before moving his fingers. "Got my fingers and toes working reasonably, I think..." He shifted and moved his head a little, wincing afterwards. "Neck... not so cooperative..."

After she was done, the girl scooting closer, parted his hair and carefully felt section by small section starting at the base of his skull, "I think I found it, a vertebra out of place..." She winced, oh this was going to be tricky.

"...let me guess; more ouch." He concluded with a small grimace. "I'm a little more prepared for it this time..."

"It won't hurt at all!"

"Well... if you're sure..." Tonio responded, seeming a little too gullible to really know that this was really going to sting. Cassidy 'jumped' again, there was a stronger flair of magic and then his spine was completely snapped back into place and tendons, muscles and nerves fitted and 'clicked' back into place as well. The Phantom let out a howl this time, forcing back tears as he choked out. "I-I thought y-you said th-this w-wouldn't hurt!"

"I lied," Cassidy said wincing, "You can't be tensed up for a true healing."

"You... coulda just said that..." He coughed out, eyes squeezed shut as he lay there. "...anything else busted wh-while we're at it?"

"I already fixed your leg, ribs, hip, butt, shoulder and now spine...unless something is hiding it's just muscle damage that need to heal more or less normally." Cassidy said.

"Well... that's good, at least." Tonio replied, shaking his head a little before relaxing and closing his eyes. "At least I won't be a broken mess now, which is certainly a lot better than how I was before... thanks, Dolly."

The human crossed her legs as Cassidy stayed on her odd spot on top of the Monster. Partly having to keep her small barrier against attention up, she pulled off the too big hat and started to fan Tonio again, "What happened to you? I get to see my fuzzballs and puppies now and then but I don't think any other Monster has...fallen out of his card before."

The Phantom shivered slightly as he recalled it. "I was just mindin' my own business, when some dirty great dragon lands behind me and starts attacking. Considering how high on the scary meter those are and how high I'm _not_, I tried runnin' and, well, the next thing I know I'm getting walloped in the back with what was probably that thing's tail, and I get bounced off a cliff face. I kinda blacked out after that though, so now I'm here. I figure when I hit the ground, or before I did, something weird happened and I showed up here. I'm not complainin' though; I'd rather be here than be dead."

"I guess its a good thing you did come to me, instead of someone that would have passed out." The paper witch tilted her head, "Or spazzed...or... yeah lets not think about that." She sighed and started to fan again. "At least its not winter and raining hard?"

"I take it some of the humans around here aren't as open to helping as you are?" Tonio inquired. He then paused before adding. "And yeah, that's definitely a good thing. Rain... not so much of a fun thing to be in the middle of when you're flat on the ground."

"Kind of surprised its as dry as it right now." Cassidy said looking around and then added, "Its not so much that but they're not used to seeing magic or non-humans."

"Ah... well, that makes sense." He responded, thinking it over a bit. He then blinked. "You mean normally it's soakin' wet here?"

"In the winter it is, it rains, it doesn't snow much." Cassidy pulled back his hair to look him in the eyes, "Feel up to trying to sit up at least now? Or do you need another healing spell in your back?"

The Phantom opened his eyes and glanced at her when she moved his hair. "I can probably sit up now... well, I could if you weren't on me." He gave a small half-smirk as he said this, seeming a bit amused.

"If you can't get up or do a push up with me- I think you're out of shape." Cassidy said dryly as she edged to one side to slide the odd inches to sit in the grass on her knees.

"I just didn't want to knock you off." Tonio responded, rolling onto his back and pushing himself into a sitting position. He seemed a bit stiff, but if he was hurting, he was good at hiding it. "It's just rude to knock a lady over, am I right Dolly?"

"Yes," Cassidy lifted a hand to push back a lock of black hair and a feather out of her face before shading her eyes to look up at the Phantom. She tilted her head to one side and then another, then looked down at a card she pulled out of her pocket, "Why is your hair white but blond in this?" She finally asked holding up the card to show Tonio.

The Phantom eyed the card before laughing a little. "What'd you expect, Dolly? If everyone looked the same, the Shadow Realm would be boooooriiiing... well, as far as lookin' at people goes anyway. Nah, we don't all look the same as what the cards show."

"But you were blond, then pale, then white..." The baffled human said, and then, "What... okay never mind. I have a brother that's a bird I can deal with _this_."

Tonio blinked at what she said. "Your brother... is a bird." He repeated. "How the heck does that work? You aren't one of 'em Harpie Ladies, are ya?" He sounded a little uneasy when he mentioned Harpie Ladies. Perhaps he'd had a few run-ins with them that were less than pleasant.

"Clan brother," Cassidy explained and pointed to her right to where several black crows were chattering happily about their day, talking about the funny looking 'tall-man' and wasn't it a shame he wouldn't be food, but also it was cute that he was being nice to the little paper witch.

The Phantom raised an eyebrow as he looked up at the birds. "... oooh'kay then." He said, sounding confused, but seeming like he'd decided not to question it. "So... you have a fair few 'brothers' then?"

"Raven and cows? Not may, but only one that was hatched when I was born." The human pulled her bag closer and flipped the strap over her shoulder, habit of keeping it and the paper it held close. Though she didn't think she needed to worry about the phantom... yet he was still a lot taller than Cassidy was, even sitting.

"Okay, now I'm confused." Tonio commented, his perplexion obvious as he thought it over. "Your 'brother' is a crow... yet the rest of them aren't? ... never mind. I'll just noodle it through later." He shook his head, brushing some of his hair out of his face with his fingers before glancing around a little. "It is really bright here..."

"It's spring," The girl said and pointed up, "And not much cloud cover."

"I noticed that." He responded, squinting as he looked up at the sky. "I'm just more used to thick clouds covering the sky and no big orb glaring down at me in all it's shininess."

Cassidy leaned over to tug at the nearer white sleeve, "Don't stare at it, you'll go blind."

The Phantom quickly looked down and shook his head a little. "Yeah, I'm seein' that, Dolly... there's dots in my eyes and they ain't going away..." He blinked rather quickly now, trying to get rid of the dreaded dots. "There we go."

"Where did you come from Tonio?" Cassidy asked after giving him a chance to deal with the uncomfortable side effect of looking at the sun.

He glanced at her quizzically. "From the same place the rest of us Duel Monsters come from; the Shadow Realm. Didn't you know that?"

"You're the first that's come out of a card that can talk." The paper witch arched up an eyebrow.

"I am, eh? Well, that's neat." He stretched a little before fussing with part of his hair. "Cool to know I'm the first one." He paused, thinking a bit before asking. "You do much Monster summoning, dolly?"

"Only when I need cuddles," Cassidy admitted looking down or away, "Or when Morgan and I don't want to leave the house to check for baddies."

"Ah." Tonio responded, thinking it over a bit. "Well, that makes sense I s'pose." He paused before blinking and laughing quietly. "Cuddles? I think you're the first summoned I've heard of who summons a monster just to get cuddles."

"...what's wrong with cuddles?" Cassidy flushed as she demanded that. "Everyone needs them."

"There's nothing wrong with cuddles." Tonio replied with a small laugh. "I've just never heard of anyone doing that before. Normally when someone summons a Monster, they generally do it to fight."

"I wouldn't want fight in anything...other than video games and just cards." Cassidy squeaked.

"Video games?" He inquired, seeming rather curious.

"Their...um...games..." Cassidy blinked back at the Monster, paused and then frowned, "Wait, do you know much about the... this world?"

Tonio shrugged. "I know a little, but not a great deal. Certainly more than some people I know though, so I'm not too poorly off, I figure."

"Huh... okay, well, I think there still might be some culture shock." The girl muttered the last part, she looked down and then her eyes grew wide, staring fixedly at the massive garden spider crawling on her skirt, heading for the loose hem of her shirt.

Tonio didn't notice, his expression thoughtful. "Eh, there's always something like that to make life interesting, right Dolly?"

"Oh-RAVEN!" The girl cried behind him, leaping up to her feet and flailing to get the spider off of her person, flailed some more and had herself a good freak out dance.

The spider didn't come off.

Tonio just blinked with surprise as he turned and looked at her. "...eh ...are you okay, Dolly?" He asked, seeming rather confused at what was going on.

"Get it off! Getitofplease!" the girl cried, trying to get the suborn spider off.

The Phantom seemed confused, but soon figured out what she was freaking out about, and with a light flick of his hand, had not only taken the spider off, but sent it whizzing off several feet away. "Problem solved?" He asked casually, a small smirk tugging at his lips.

Cassidy popped off her over shirt, shaking it out and checking herself over carefully, including briefly checking under the hem of her skirt. Once that was done and no more spiders were found she sighed.

"Not a fan of spiders?" He asked with faint amusement. "Remind me not to take you home with me sometime. They're a bit more intimidating where I'm from." He grimaced as he said this, as though recalling a memory that hadn't been pleasant.

"I'm allergic to them." Cassidy all but wilted, rubbing her left arm in memory, "It sucks to be bit!"

"Ah, well that's a good reason to not like them." Tonio responded, thinking it over a bit. "That makes the whole thing a lot less funny than I thought it was."

"Yes, sort of does," Cassidy tugged her braid as if checking for spiders on it or the attached feathers. "Um... subject change!"

The Phantom gave a small nod, humming thoughtfully. "Um... new topic, I've never been good at coming up with those..." He looked around to try and figure something out. "... uh..." He then blinked. "... where is my hat?"

Cassidy picked it up from where she dropped the hat, brushing it off of stray bits of grass and then held it up for the taller Monster, "Not far, here."

"Ah, thanks Dolly." He responded, accepting is hat and sighing contentedly as he put it back on his head. "There, I feel loads better already. Nothing quite beats having a good hat, you know?"

There was a giggle from the young woman, "I'll stick to my feathers, though it is a cool hat."

Tonio chuckled quietly as he nodded. "It sure is. Was expensive too. Replacing hats is craaazy sometimes. I don't even want to know how much those Dark Magicians have to pay to replace theirs."

"I think theirs might be armored." Cassidy smiled, though was pretty sure Tonio's own hat had at least a plate considering how heave it was.

"They are." He agreed. "Very much armored... it hurts when one of them swats you with theirs..." He seemed almost to wince at the memory. "I had a migraine for half the week after that..."

Cassidy blinked at that, "You need better painkillers," she said, and took a moment to think about it before dividing that maybe it would be a good idea to mention to the Monster that she had not one but two Dark Magician cards that found her. Nor that though he was the first speaking monster, now and then the paper witch could hear soft whispers of other casters.

The Monster nodded a little. "Yeah, probably... though, I'm not sure if anyone in this world would have the sort of meds powerful enough to get rid of that sort of ouch factor. It don't help much that Dark Magicians are waaay higher on the 'scary meter' than I am."

"Scary meter?" Cassidy asked, blinking at the Phantom, "..." she looked at Tonio's card, having a feeling what that might be.

He seemed amused. "Normally I've heard people call it a Monster's 'level', but I figure the 'scary meter' is a good term for it too." He indicated the stars near the top of his card. "That's my level. A Dark Magician is... at least three levels higher than me. Thus, they are higher on the scary meter."

"I get it," The girl smiled, "So whoever literally hit you into this week, was much higher on the scary scale too?"

The Phantom laughed a little as he nodded. "Yep. Red-Eyes Black Dragons are definitely higher on the scary meter than me." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "And they hit harder than a Magician's hat does."

"Yeah, considering you had a broken foot, legs, shoulder, spine and hip..." Cassidy said dryly, arching a dark eyebrow up and smiling a bit as she just healed all of those mentioned things, "I hope that's not normal for you..."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh, it depends on the day, really. Mostly it doesn't get that crazy though, honest... of course, mostly I'm not in Red Eyes territory..."

"How are you still alive than?" the woman asked worried, reaching out to touch Toni's closer hand. "Damn, you should get at least a cupcake for that."

The Monster grinned. "I'm just really luck-wait..." He blinked, his grin fading as he looked at Cassidy with utter confusion. "What the heck is a cupcake? Is it like a trophy or something?"

She really shouldn't have done it, knowing the fact that Tonio wasn't from her world, but at the same time the thought that there was a place without cupcakes... Cassidy squeaked softly as she gave a short gasped, staring up at the not quite man as if he just said he ate puppies and ravens.

Tonio blinked a few times, seeming rather confused by her reaction. "Uhm... did I say something wrong, Dolly? I'm a little confused."

"You've never had a cupcake before?" Cassidy asked back instead, "At all?"

He shook his head, still seeming rather perplexed as he raised an eyebrow. "No... Should I have? I may have missed the memo somewhere."

"For the crap you just went through..." The paper witch made of her mind, grasping the mech's hand and despite that tiny voice in the back of her mind ("I think I'm lower on this scary scale than _him_!"), pulled to get the phantom to fallow her, "You deserve a cupcake..."

...or, Cassidy _tried_ to pull the Monster. She wasn't quiet that strong to physically move even this Monster if he didn't want to.

Luckily for her, Tonio was willing enough to follow her. "You still haven't explained what a cupcake is though..." He protested awkwardly, his curiosity at the mysterious wonder of a cupcake blatantly obvious.

"Its a cake!" The girl explained, "Only just for you, cup sized. A cupcake."

Her explanation didn't seem to help him that much. "...what's a cake?"

This time Cassidy gasped outright, stopping to stare up at the taller phantom.

Tonio blinked a few times as he looked down at her, his expression showing utter confusion. "... I take it I'm really missing out on something now?" He asked.

"...I think its a very good I have wedding leftovers..." Cassidy finally announced, dark chocolate eyes wide. "We're having an impromptu picnic. Even if is it does end up raining."

._.

Somewhere, a dimension away, and within the safety of his castle, The Dark One, the first Dark Magician looked up from pointing something out in a book to the red robed Monster beside him, "I do not know why Jafar, but I have the feeling something bad might happen in the near future..."

The red-robed Magician glanced at him and grimaced as he nodded. "You have that feeling as well? Perhaps it is a sign of things to come. Not a fun consideration."

"A bad omen indeed." The slightly taller caster agreed as he looked up, in the vague direction of the mortal world, hair so dark it was almost purple shifting over his shoulders.

._.

The Phantom seemed rather intrigued by now. "You mean people eat this mystery substance at celebrations? I... take it that this is something more amusing than a trophy or medal then."

"Very much more," Cassidy nodded, "Okay, well, you're stronger than me so you can carry the bigger box." The girl said pulling Tonio over to where she parked her possessed car, an old black Trans-Am.

The Kar growled at Tonio.

The Phantom blinked at the black thing. "...does that... normally happen?"

"Er, yes," The girl gave a nervous squeak, ducking her head. She kicked a tire's hub cap, "Kar! Be nice! He, er, fell out of my deck. You don't mind the fuzzball in your back seat. So be nice to Tonio. And open up young man."

There was a growling rumble before the driver side door opened, and a familiar, to both phantom and witch, a "Crouoo?" sound came from within.

Tonio blinked several times. "Wait... you've... got a Kuriboh? You do know they explode, right Dolly?"

"You have one in your pocket," Cassidy blinked back at the phantom, stooping to pick up the brown and black Kuriboh and cuddled it like one would snuggle with a cat or puppy. "And I know, but only if you hit them or they _really_ don't like someone..."

"I what?"

"I saw it go back in after you, ah, 'landed,'" Cassidy offered, putting her full sized Kuriboh back in The Kar, and after shifting the diver side seat, pushed it out of the way and managed to gently pull out one of the boxes there. "Here... kind of heavy!"

The Phantom seemed curious as he carefully took the box from her. "...this is heavy?" He asked, seeming perplexed. He then addressed the rest of what she said. "Ah, okay... I'm still trying to figure out how it got in there in the first place though..."

"You're bigger and have like, a superman build under that suit!" Cassidy protested, flushing, "Of course it's heavy to me, and not you." She said diving back into The Kar again to get another box, one she could managed, and closed the door with her hip. Though thankfully having noticed and waited until after the Kuriboh hopped out to fallow them.

"...Superman?" He inquired, seeming more than a little confused by this point. "...your world is very odd. Who or what is Superman?"

"He's a character in a comic book," Cassidy said on the way to a covered table not far away, noting the clouds rolling in. "But it is also a description. A 'super-man' i.e. someone epic," She grinned at the phantom.

"Oooh..." It took him a moment to register the meaning before he grinned. "Oh! Well then, thanks for the compliment, Dolly."

The mortal human set the box on her chosen table, pointing at the spot for the other box, "Here, put that there, and here's a plate for you, and a fork." Cassidy set the things down, arranging the boxes so the two could sit on the end, have everything in reach but also on the more sheltered side for the rain that Cassidy was sure would come in a half an hour.

Tonio carefully set the box down where he was instructed to before accepting the plate and fork, still seeming curious. "Alrighty... anything else I can do?"

"Pick what looks good," Cassidy said opening a container and nudging the creampuffs onto her plate and offering it to Tonio before the cupcakes.

The Phantom seemed very confused as he watched. "...is food supposed to be those colors?" He asked, seeming rather perplexed with the situation at hand. He really had no idea what he was getting into, and it was obvious.

"Food is all sorts of colors," Cassidy said, fishing for the Tupperware container she knew had some cupcakes in it.

"... I've never seen food this color before." Tonio replied truthfully. "... I didn't know that edible came in hot pink."

Cassidy pushed the pastry to the Monster, and took out a delicate looking mini-cupcake with white frosting and pick sprinkles. "It's good, the cream-balls are thawed out, maybe a bit cold, and these are one kind of cupcakes."

He nodded a little, accepting the sweet delectable and looking it over with curiosity. He paused a moment to smell it, blinking several times as he looked at it again. "It smells... rather interesting." He seemed quite intrigued now. "And very eat-worthy."

Cassidy smiled up at the phantom that was a good three feet taller than her, at his 8 feet. It was good thing its at the end of the picnic table, and that the table was bolted down for that matter. She tried very hard not to laugh as she realized the sight them must be. The, compositely, huge monster sitting like he was with mini wedding dainties.

The paper witch feed her fuzzball some of the decorative salad leaves to hide hi new grin, as her hair was mostly all tied up in the braid.

Tonio hesitated a moment more before shrugging a little and taking a small bite out of the cupcake. He blinked several times at first, seeming unsure of what to think, though slowly a small smile formed on his mildly frosted lips. "Mmm..." Was all he mumbled out, seeming as though he thoroughly enjoyed the flavor he was now experiencing for the first time.

Giggling, because she really couldn't help it, not with seeing the somewhat mussed up Witty Phantom sitting there across from her nibbling a mini cupcake.

"Do you like it?" Cassidy asked.

Monster swallowed what was in his mouth before smiling at her. "Very muchly so." He responded, seeming quite happy with his present situation, despite the fact that it was rather unusual, and probably quite comical to look at. "I've never had something this amazingly tasty before."

"Eat as much as you want," Cassidy's smile turned softer, "I have a lot more then this at home, I had left over duty." She nodded at the two boxes, and pulled out one of her favorites, fancy or no, and pig in a blanket was still just that.

"Wow, you seriously got lucky." Tonio responded cheerfully. "If all goodies like this are... well, this good, I'm surprised people don't fight over being on left-over duty."

"So am I," Cassidy considered, "Well, sometimes leftover's aren't always as good as this. I happen to know a fire witch that's a wedding planner."

Now he seemed a little confused again. "Knowing a wedding planner means you get dibs on the good stuff that gets left behind?" He inquired.

"When you're both witches and owed a favor!" Cassidy chirped.

Tonio paused to consider that for a moment before grinning. "So it was rigged?"

"More like good timing and helping out." The girl smile, "I didn't offer to help my friend with the intent to get something. That's not how kindness works."

"Kindness, eh?" The Phantom repeated, thinking it over a little. He remembered what happened the last time someone tried showing him kindness. "...isn't kindness a double-edged sword sometimes?"

Cassidy opened her mouth to protest, but paused and really considered it. She sighed as she remembered several things, "When you're dealing with someone who has greed or darkness in their hearts, yes, sometimes it can be. But most of the time its not."

"...you mean... people here don't call other people cowards if they accept help when they really need it? They don't... ruin other people's lives for accepting acts of kindness when they'd otherwise get killed?"

The horrified look the Phantom got suggested that this was not the case, followed by instant worry.

Tonio noticed this right away. "...I'll take that as a no then." He said awkwardly. Seeming uneasy, he decided to enjoy a bit more of his cupcake. He seemed as though he were half afraid to explain what happened to make him ask what he had, though willing to tell the story if she asked him to.

"...if you want to talk about it, I can listen."

It took a few long moments before the mortal human spoke again, having though about her own words carefully, She also made up her mind to give Tonio a hug one way or another. Or two hugs.

The Phantom nodded slightly, finishing his cupcake and licking the frosting off his lips before closing his eyes. "I figure I may as well tell you, Dolly. It'll probably help you understand me a bit better when I do odd stuff."

He hesitated to re-consider what he was about to say before plucking up his courage and continuing. "A long while back, dunno how long for sure, I was on a job for someone who was payin' me real good. Send me into Harpie territory. Normally that ain't too big a deal, I'd done it before, but... th-that was hunting day, and... well... I wasn't in the right place at the right time. Nearly died, but a Dark Magician showed up and saved my life. I quit the job I was on and went back to say I couldn't do it..."

Now he gave a small shiver. "B-but my boss wasn't happy that I failed... said I was a coward and a weakling. He wrecked my rep as a good person to call for favors. Life was awful since that, really... That's why I don't get along with Magicians; because one's attempt to help me ruined my life."

"It wasn't the magician," Cassidy tried to gently correct, curling her hands around one of Tonio's, "It was this so called 'boss'- and frankly that's a horrid way of being one- that did the bad." The human tilted her head before standing and walking around to the Phantom's other side, hiking up her skirt to climb up on the bench of the picnic table. Standing there it was much easier to pull Tonio into a hug against her chest, arms wrapped around his neck.

Hush you shippers there in the background, Cassidy was fully covered.

The Phantom's hair seemed to be taking on a dull, grey-purple hue as he closed his eyes and very lightly leaned against her, not wanting to knock her over, but still wanting the comfort. "I... I know that." He said quietly. "It's just... if he wouldn't have tried to help me, I... I wouldn't have had my reputation- my whole lifestyle really, wrecked... Sure I'd be dead, but... what's worse? Being dead, or being known by virtually everyone as a coward and a failure?" He sounded almost as though he genuinely didn't know the answer.

"Is that so called 'boss' in a deck?" Cassidy asked with sudden inspiration, drawing on the memory of Tonio's momentary flash of pleased pride when the phantom had heard that he fell out of Cassidy's dueling deck.

"I'm not sure." He replied quietly. "I hope he isn't. Nobody should have to have a Monster like that in their deck."

"Then lets say he isn't. But you are." The girl said, hugging the Monster again.

Tonio actually paused to consider what she said. "...y-you're right... even with what happened, I've still been able to one-up him..." The dreary color slowly began to fade out of his hair as he thought it through. "...thanks, Cassidy..."

Wait... he just used her real name. He hadn't done that before, had he?

Pushing his hat back, the paper witch pressed a dramatic kiss to the phantom's forehead, "There we go Tonio! Now, eat another cupcake, that one's chocolate. And chocolate makes everything better."

The Monster's hair went from a light grey-purple to light pink as soon as she'd kissed him, seemingly. He gave a faint laugh as he smiled a bit. "I... I think that's a very good idea."

Proud of making the phantom feel at least a little better, the girl pulled Toni's hat back over the spot. Trying to give him a subconscious feeling of having the spot protected before hopping down.

He smiled a bit more as he watched her sit down again. "You know..." He said after giving it a bit of consideration. "If... if that hadn't all happened the way it did, I wouldn't be who I am right now... I guess that Magician did me a lot more good than he even meant to." It wasn't hard to guess that he had been meaning how well he was getting along with Cassidy.

"I bet my paycheck you'll never tell him that." Cassidy mused, taking soft candy sweet.

Tonio laughed quietly as the pink faded out of his hair, returning it to the blond it had been before. "Yeah, probably not. I probably won't even see him again, now that I think about it..."

"Don't say that," Cassidy warned, glancing around, "Raven might hear, then it'll happen in a surprising way."

The Phantom raised an eyebrow. "Well, okay then. I won't say that again, just in case."

Looking at the Monster, Cassidy belatedly realized something that she had been noticing. His _hair!_ The girl started giggling and to save herself, popped a dainty in her mouth.

Tonio raised an eyebrow as he glanced at her, a second mini-cupcake almost at his mouth. He lowered it and eyed her with confusion, his hair turning pale again. "Is something funny to you?" He inquired curiously.

"Yes, but in a good way," The girl promised, crossing her heart, her gaze flicked up to his hair.

He missed the eye flicking somehow, "Alright... care sharing it? I'm rather curious as to what was funny." By now his hair was nearly white again.

Cassidy reached back and held up her braid, smiling at Tonio, "Here's a hint."

The Phantom's hair went white as snow for a bit, considering the clue before blinking and looking at his own hair, realization hitting him and flushing his locks a brilliant shade of emerald green. "Oh! That!" He laughed a little, his hair returning to blond as he explained. "Yeah, my hair mimics my mood."

_I'm going to need a new log book,_ The paper witch thought, as she recalled her logged 'magical notebooks' that she kept- and made her best friend keep as well. "Good thing I don't, no offence but I have more hair then you! It'd be a rainbow."

The Monster nodded with amusement as he thought it over. "It'd certainly be an interesting thing to see, Dolly. Probably hard to get used to at first though, if you weren't expecting it."

"My feathers are enough," Cassidy agreed, smiling, reaching for another candy, and giving Tonio another as well, fueling the bad feeling that magicians' another world away had.

Tonio cheerfully accepted the candy. "Thanks." He said before sighing contentedly and putting the sweet in his mouth. Yep, he definitely seemed to like the taste of wedding dainties.

"Croo!"

Cassidy looked down, "No," she shook her head, "Last time you had sugar, you turned into six... then twenty..."

The Phantom blinked before laughing quietly. "You gave the Kuriboh sugar? That's a recipe for disaster, Dolly."

"I didn't! My best friend did! Turned my Kuriboh into a tribble!"

Tonio's hair went white again. "A... tribble? What's a tribble?"

"...okay, I'm introducing you to Star Trek." Cassidy announced, "The Shadow Realm apparently does not have good cultural shows."

The Monster blinked slowly. "Star... Trek? Sounds interesting enough I suppose."

"Yeah, sometime," Cassidy nodded, feeding the smaller fiend another salad leaf instead of one of the sweets. "Is the little one still in your pocket?"

Tonio shrugged and folded back his jacket to check the inner pocket. "Dunno. Do you remember which pocket it went into?"

"I think the right outer..." The girl blinked, pausing to be sure, "Maybe...I was a little distracted when I spotted it."

"Ah... well, we'll just have to explore a bit then." He took his jacket off and looked into one of the outer pockets. "...what the heck is that?"

"What is what-" Cassidy blinked at what was drawn out, "...how did a bubble gun _fit_ in your pocket?"

Tonio blinked a few times before shrugging. "Dunno. When I got the coat someone said something about large pockets, but I really have no idea how that thing even got there."

"It looks like the model that came out last year," Cassidy reached to touch the bubble gun.

Sure enough, the bubble gun was very much solid, and very much real. "...Eh." Tonio asked awkwardly, his hair going a bit pale again. "...what exactly IS a bubble gun?"

"Here," The girl took it, and after checking the toy, then turned it on to start making bubbles. "Bubble gun!"

The monster blinked before laughing quietly as his hair returned to normal. "Sheesh, it's like this one crazy Toon Dark Magician Girl I know. Whenever she shows up, bubbles are everywhere."

Cassidy chuckled, "Well, now you have something to shoot bubbles at her?" The girl offered the bubble gun back.

He smiled as he accepted it and looked it over. "Yeah, that sounds fun. She'd probably think it was hilarious, actually." He set it down beside him before looking in his pocket again. "... I don't even know how half this stuff got in here..."

"Doctor Who pockets." Cassidy shook her head, then tilted her head. "I think I heard the fiend... from your left side?"

"Doctor what?" Was the question she received as the Monster stopped searching in his right pocket and turned his attention to the left pocket.

"Er, never mind for now." Cassidy said, letting her fuzzy Monster hop into her lap, and wrapped her arms around it for a cuddle.

He merely shrugged as he continued to dig through his pocket. "...what the heck?" He pulled a rubber chicken out. "That is so not mine." Both Cassidy and the Kuriboh were giggling at the older and humanoid fiend type Monster now. Tonio's hair was now pearly white again as he just stared at the chicken in bewilderment. "I honestly have no idea how that got in there..."

"Just don't try to eat it!"

He made a sour face. "Uh... Dolly? Why would I want to eat rubber?" At least he knew what rubber was.

"Cruuo!" the Kuriboh commented, seeming to smile.

"Yeah!" Cassidy gigged, "It is pretty lifelike!"

The Phantom laughed a little. "Did you want it? I have no use for a rubber chicken."

The paper witch shook her head, "No. Maybe you can throw it to distract a dragon or something?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I think the dragons back home are a bit smarter than that, Dolly. Good thought though."

"You never know," Cassidy smiled, "If you take someone by surprise they will believe a lot of things."

"Yes, I suppose that's true." Tonio agreed after giving it a bit of thought. "Surprise can do a lot of interesting things to a person."

"Just don't surprise a fire witch." Cassidy warned, rubbing her left arm and grimacing. "They tend to fireball first then check if they even needed to afterwards."

The Phantom cringed a little at that. "Ah... yeah, I'll try not to do that. I'm no fan of dodging fireballs."

"There's not that much dodging," Cassidy admitted, "Fire witches have really good aim, and most of the fireballs are heat seeking."

"Yeesh... sounds like one of those Fire Manipulator guys from back home..." Tonio mumbled, as though recalling a particular run-in with one. The girl arched up an eye brow in a questioning way, with a tilt of the head. He gave a sheepish laugh. "I... um... got lit on fire by one by accident once..."

"You know everything that I've heard about the Shadow Realm in research and what you said." Cassidy started, "I don't think I want to visit."

"It's not a healthy place for humans, trust me." Tonio said, cringing a little. "Last poor soul who went there got... never mind, you really don't want to know what happened."

"Is it any worse than someone trying to kidnap you and use your blood to call a demon from hell while you're still alive?" Cassidy asked looking away and out to where the rain was starting to drip down. "Kinda sucks being a low level white witch in this world too."

"...ehm... no, it wasn't quite like that." The Phantom confessed. "But it was a very bloody ordeal that left him getting torn to shreds by two Man-Eater Bugs while he was still quite alive and screaming... by the way, I had no hand in that whatsoever."

"You know what?" Cassidy said looking at the two boxes, "I want another cup cake and forget that part. Here, have a strawberry cupcake."

He quite willingly accepted the cupcake. "That's a good plan, Dolly. It's a nice day, even if the sun is ridiculously bright, so there's no point in focusing on the dreary things."

"Its not so bright now," Cassidy pointed out, and pointed to the rain that was sprinkling. Maybe the good food was distracting the phantom fiend?

"Oh?" He blinked and looked up at the sky. "Ah... heh, I missed that detail somehow." His hair tinted faintly pink as he said this.

"Just eat your cupcake." Cassidy advised, taking a bite for herself and rising to poke at the boxes and come up with another treat.

The Phantom nodded, laughing faintly before focusing on his cupcake and sighing contentedly as he ate it. Yep, he definitely seemed to have a sweet tooth.

"I think there's a lemon one," Cassidy said looking in another plastic container, "Oooo, there was still salmon sliders!" She produced mini salmon burgers out of the box of leftovers, and showed Tonio, even cold they were still good.

Tonio seemed rather curious. "That's a... slider?" He inquired. "I thought sliders on snow hills."

"That's sleds," Cassidy corrected, around one of the salmon sliders.

"Ah, my mistake." He commented, laughing a little. "It seems I still have a lot to learn, even though I probably know a little more about this world than most others in the Shadow Realm."

"Well, when I get good at summoning... would you like to come back?" Cassidy asked as she sat down again, shooing her Kuriboh away from the sugar treats. "That might be better than being hit by dragons to come here?"

Tonio chuckled a bit more at the offer. "I would very much appreciate that, Dolly. It would save me a lot of pain, and you a lot of magical energy considering what you had to do to patch me back together."

"Healing isn't that hard actually," The girl smiled again and almost pointedly added with her next words, "It takes willingness to help someone, anyone else. Kindness."

"There's that word again." He commented, though instead of seeming bothered, he gave a small smile. "I'm glad it isn't something hard for you to do."

"If I was anything other than a white witch, I wouldn't be able to do that kind of magic," Cassidy ducked her head, feeling herself blush as she held one of the mini cupcakes.

"Really?" The Phantom asked, sounding rather curious as he considered it, his hair turning pale, almost white again. "Why is that?"

The girl held out her hand to him, "Here, let me have your hand."

He gently took hold of her hand without hesitation. "Alright."

Cassidy wrapped both of her hands around his one. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and let it out as she called on the energy in her. Without any injures to heal it took some focus, but it wasn't hard anymore for her. That energy was channeled through her hands to wrap around Tonio's fingers, warm and soft, reflecting the paper witch's aurora.

The Phantom blinked several times as this sensation washed through his fingers and hand. "Whoa... okay, that's a cool feeling..."

"That's what you need in your heart in order to heal," Cassidy said opening her eyes, but they were glazed with magic. "Healing magic comes from within first, if you have a bad heart, you'll just hurt people."

He thought that over before grimacing. "Ah..." He sighed quietly. "Well... I'm not sure if that carries through to Monsters or not, but I'm a Dark type, so I doubt I could do anything about it anyway."

"That fuzz ball is dark too," The girl pointed out nodded at the Kuriboh. "And so is... um..." she blinked her eyes until they cleared and the extra magic absorbed into the phantom's hand.

"Dark Magicians." Tonio put in. "Komori Dragon, Curse of Dragon, pretty much everyone in the Gravekeeper collection... there's a lot."

Cassidy became fidgety, "Yes..." she blinked again, noticing that the Monster's fingers looked to be manicured now. Quick! A distraction was needed! "But just because you're dark doesn't mean you're bad. I'm pretty sure if it wasn't for, well, my two Dark Magicians warnings, I'd be in big trouble."

Tonio seemed rather curious, his hair now pearly white. "So... even someone with dark as their element can heal people?"

"If you _want_ to help someone for no other reason but to help them, yes. I think so." The human girl smiled, Cassidy blew a lock of hair and small feather out of her face. "Like I said, kindness is at the root."

"Yes, that makes sense." Tonio responded, thinking about it a bit. "Hm... Perhaps I'll be able to heal sometime as well."

Cassidy gripped the phantom's fingers, "It'll take time, I've been working on healing magics since I was 13."

"And... how old are you now, Dolly? If you don't mind my asking."

The paper witch giggled and gave him a wink, "Turning 24 this summer, don't let the shortness fool you."

The Phantom blinked a few times. "You're aging very well." He observed with a small smile.

"The shortness does help, that's what Morgan said," The girl smiled a bit, "But thank you."

Tonio smiled a bit more. "You're welcome, Dolly."

Cassidy let the Kuriboh crawl up in her lap, feeding it the last of the readily handy, planet based garnishes, it seemed happy to be more of a lap-dog then an attack monster. Wide eyes closed with a purr as it was pet.

The Phantom watched for a moment before smiling a little. "...watching you cuddle that thing makes me want one to cuddle too..."

The paper witch arched and eyebrow, "Oh?" Though Tonio seemed like he needed one, he didn't give the imprecation of being a cuddlier.

Tonio fidgeted awkwardly, his hair tinting a bit pink. "Ehm... l-let's not tell any of your other card critters about that, okay? I'd rather not be known as 'Tonio the cuddle-monster'..."

"Kruu!" The brown fuzzball 'said,' it didn't see anything wrong with cuddles, and though phantom wasn't exactly the same, he was still a fiend type.

"I won't," Cassidy promised as she smiled again.

The Phantom smiled a little at her response. "Thanks Dolly. I mean, I don't have much of a reputation any more as it is, but all the same, I wouldn't mind trying to keep what shreds of it I have left."

"Or you can start over and build a new one," Cassidy offered the idea almost shyly

"I... can I guess." Tonio replied, thinking on it a bit. "How though?"

"I guess by picking a new path to walk on." The girl guessed, looking out at the light rain. "I know it sounds completely cheesy, but the 'follow your heart' line fits in, but I'd suggest using your head too."

He thought that over, seeming curious about it. "Well... I guess I'll just have to try and wing it for now... does that sound right?"

"I think that's what everyone does in general with life," Cassidy giggled, hugging the Kuriboh.

Tonio smiled a bit as he thought about it. "Well, that's what I'm gonna do then. Here's hoping I don't make a goof of it, eh?"

"My father says you should always try something at least once," The paper witch reached out with her free hand and grasped his closer hand. Or rather Tonio's fingers.

He blinked when she took hold of his fingers, but smiled a bit more. "That's a good way to go 'bout it I suppose, but how does one know what is a good idea to try and what isn't?"

"...I'm not sure, in a way you have to think about, and try not to hurt someone." Cassidy considered, "And, well, the best teacher, is experience."

Tonio actually gave a small laugh. "Well, I'm not exactly the best one to tell about thinkin' Dolly, considering the lot I was in with before. But hey, I'll try it."

The girl shrugged, "Okay, think as much as you can." She giggled and ducked.

He merely stuck his tongue out at her. "Nyeh."

"You implied it first," Cassidy defended herself.

Tonio laughed. "I didn't say I couldn't think. I just said I wasn't good at deciding on the right option."

"Thus experience," The human grinned and motioned the phantom to stand and com around to her side of the picnic table.

He shrugged a little as he got up and moved over. "Yeah, but how long is it going to take me?"

"Well, you have a lot of experience already," Cassidy said shooing the fuzzball off her lap and mad Tonio first sit then managed to get him to lay back with his head in her lap. "You're probably older than me several times over."

Tonio shrugged. "Eh, probably..." He responded, totally enjoying the situation despite how awkward the size differences probably were. "But my experiences weren't of a good-natured sort, probably.

Even if one of his legs was braced on the ground and he had to bend the other knee, but the phantom sort of fit. Cassidy didn't mind being on the edge of the bench as she ran her hands over the monster's face and head, smoothing out his hair and teasing out a few tangles.

"Its still experience though, if you didn't like doing something before, and can help it to do again, then don't do it."

He smiled a little, his expression showing amusement and that he was relaxing under her touch. "I suppose so... You're good at convincing people of things."

"Or you just like being pet." Came the small tease.

The Phantom made a comical 'erk' sound, his hair turning bubblegum pink. "W-well... I-I-I like that too..."

Cassidy giggled, and then again as the Kuriboh hopped up and curled up into Tonio's middle. The paper witch hummed comforting and pushed the pink hair back, "Its okay."

He gave an awkward, almost giggle-like laugh. "W-well, as long as you think so, Dolly. I'm at your command, and all that." He lightly reached up and, smiling a little, stroked her cheek with one of his fingers. His hair turned more of a reddish pink and he got a sheepish gleam in his eyes, but he didn't say anything as he lowered his hand and started to gently stroke the Kuriboh that was sitting on him.

"I'd rather have a friend...and maybe someone that does mind me hiding behind him." Cassidy ducked her head now, but it didn't work very well as the Monster's head was in her lap.

Tonio smiled at her. "Well, I'm fine with being the proverbial 'meat shield' if you need one, Dolly. I've got no qualms with protecting a lovely lady in need."

There was an awkward pause at that phasing, the girl hung her head with a nervous squeak.

He chuckled quietly as he reached up again, lightly lifting her head with his finger gently pressing under her chin. "Hey you, no need to hide. I certainly can't; my hair's pink."

"So are my cheeks now," was the soft admission, as the woman blushed.

"I noticed, but your cheeks are a lot cuter to see pink than my hair is." He teased lightly. Making a face at the tease, Cassidy then hid Tonio's with his own hair instead, and then dissolved into giggles. Tonio squawked with surprise, but laughed as he comically puffed his hair out of his face. "Hey you."

"What?" Cassidy asked, the perfect image of innocence and when he pushed his hair back, the paper witch ran her fingers over a cut from his fall into the mortal world and healed it.

"You're funny." He responded cheerily, smiling pleasantly up at her.

"This coming from the magical hair changer," Cassidy arched an eyebrow, and smiled.

Tonio made a silly face at her. "Yeah, but I can't help that my hair changes color."

"I guess not," Cassidy glanced over at the smaller fiend and blinked as different movement caught her attention. "Oh...I think the Shadows just realized you weren't really summoned."

Tonio seemed confused now, shifting as he lifted his head just enough to take a look around. "Eh? What do you mean, Dolly?"

She pointed at his supporting leg off the bench, and the flicker of shadows there clinging to his pants. "I've seen that before, when Kuriboh's been here too long. I think that means you're going back soon."

The Phantom's hair went from the pinkish color it had been to a dull and dreary grey. "Oh..." He sighed as he relaxed his head back lightly, looking up at Cassidy and giving a grim, half-hearted smile. "Guess my time's runnin' out then... wonder how long it'll be til I go 'poof'."

"I don't know, for what it's worth Kuriboh's trying to eat the shadow?" Cassidy tried to cheer him up again.

Tonio gave a faint smile as he closed his eyes. "He is, eh? That's cute..." His hair turned a lighter shade of grey. "... any idea when I'll be able to get back here after I'm gone?"

"When I get better at summoning?" Cassidy offered, "I'm still learning Shadow-Magic after all."

He paused to think that over for a bit, but nodded a little, his hair now back to the blond color it had been when he first arrived. "Yeah, true enough. And who knows? Maybe something else will punt me out here again soon too." He smiled a little more as he chuckled. "Just... preferably without as much force as the dragon had."

"Cruu." the Kuriboh paused in it's motion of chewing on the creeping, living shadow to reassure the bigger monster that it never hurt him.

The Phantom felt this and chuckled quietly, opening his eyes and reaching over to pet the Kuriboh. "Thanks, bud. That's good to know, for sure and certain..."

"You can understand him?" Cassidy asked, only ever getting the general gist of things with the fuzzy Monster. She returned to the basic petting of Tonio's hair, having slipped something in his strange pockets without him noticing.

Tonio chuckled quietly as he looked up at her. "Yep. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what some say but this little guy I can understand crystal-clearly."

"I wonder why," Cassidy thought, on hand touching her deck in her own pocket. Could it be that? That the two were not only both finds but linked through the deck?

She really needed to talk to someone in Shadow Magic...

The Phantom shrugged slightly. "Who knows. Magic and Duel Monsters are odd... but we're still awesome." He flashed her a winning sort of grin, and despite his somewhat pointy teeth, he still seemed rather charming.

"That you are," Cassidy assured promptly, she paused and then asked, "Am I going to hear you now too?"

He thought it over a bit. "Well..." He mused after a moment or two. "Probably. Not sure for certain, but it's rather likely." His hair tinted a pinkish red as he said awkwardly. "I'll try to keep the cursing down to a minimum, just in case."

"I've learned more Egyptian and elven curses then you realize," The paper witch sighed, flushing a bit.

Tonio started to laugh. "Yeah, but I don't swear in Elven or Egyptian. Mine are straight-up, old-school English. Though I have picked up a few fancy ones during my own travels in the Shadow Realm. Goblin swearing, for example, sounds like someone's choking on their own phlegm... not a fun sound."

Two slender hands were placed over the Phantom's mouth, "No! Don't want to know. Nope. Not at All."

His eyes betrayed an impish grin, his voice muffled as he sounded as though he said. "I vashn't goingf toof say anyfingk."

"You're a find, I don't believe you trouble maker." Cassidy eyed him.

He just giggle-laughed into her hands, his eyes holding amusement. "I swears I noft say ift!"

There was a long pause before the girl carefully lifted her hands off Tonio's face, "Good."

The Phantom just smiled 'innocently' up at her. "You're funny."

The girl messed up the not-quite man's hair in retaliation while the Kuriboh on his stomach gave up on chewing on the shadows. Its mouth was numb after all. Tonio grinned up at her before blinking. "I think my hat fell off." He commented before shrugging. "Ah well, no real biggie." He then looked at Kuriboh and chuckled a little. "Gave up, eh?"

Kuriboh snorted, sitting back to rub its jaws under the furry fluff to get feeling back in them. It looked up as Cassidy moved, leaning down to the side and stretched to grab the white fedora. She brushed it off and put it over top Tonio's head and face.

The phantom blinked before laughing quietly and lifting his hat off his face so he could look up at Cassidy. "Ah, thank you Dolly. Can't be forgetting that now can I?"

"No you can't, fedoras are treasures in their own right," Cassidy giggled, though tilted her head in some confusion of how he got it, and the suit itself.

Tonio chuckled as he smiled a bit more. "Precisely. A person can constantly replace a pair of shoes, but one can never really replace a good hat. It almost becomes a part of the person who owns it."

"I just hope not physically," Cassidy smiled down at the Monster, "I hope your Kuriboh is still in your pocket when you go…it still seems young not just small."

He nodded as he lightly slipped his hand in his pocket to check for the Kuriboh, being careful just in case it was in there. He didn't want to hurt the little cutie, after all. "Yeah, it did seem pretty young to me too."

"I guess…that makes you a daddy." The paper witch just couldn't help it, she really couldn't and bit her lower lip to keep from giggling again.

The Phantom blinked before laughing a bit. "Me? A daddy? Nah. More like a crazy uncle, probably. Everyone's got one of those."

Cassidy held up one hand, the thumb and forefinger curled up as she spread the other three out, "Tell me about it..."

He grinned. "By the sounds of it, I don't really have to, do I?"

"No, my dad had a lot of brothers." Cassidy considered, "And since I'm the only girl in my generation of the family, and so small, I get a lot of birthday presents."

"Oh? Isn't that a good thing in a way though?" Tonio asked. "It shows that people care a lot about you."

"It does, but is also means I have three uncles, and seven cozens that are over protective of the only Paper witch in the family." Cassidy pointed out.

"... ah." He said as he thought it over a bit. "... yeah, that could make it a bit troublesome..."

"kind of a good thing that I didn't start using Shadow Magic until I moved in with Morgan," the girl admitted, "Otherwise, you might have met Nana."

"... Nana?" Tonio inquired, seeming half curious and half afraid. "Do I want to know who she is?"

"My grandmother," Cassidy ducked her head, "She's the head shaman locally now, and considers anything 'dark' as very bad. And in need of banishing."

The Phantom made a comical sounding 'eep' noise. "O-oh... yeah, kinda glad I haven't met her." He then blinked, his expression showing curiosity. "Wait... does she know you're learning Shadow Magic?"

There was a long, awkward and a bit shameful silence as his replay, dark chocolate colored eyes looking away.

"...ah." He said after a while, hesitating before reaching up and stroking her cheek again. "No need to be ashamed of it, Dolly. If she's so wiggy about it, I don't blame you for not telling her. Heck, if my granny was like that, I wouldn't tell her. I'd be terrified... of course, my granny was kind of scary even without any magic..." He cringed. "Her and that wooden spoon o' hers... nobody messed with granny..."

"Nana has a staff." Cassidy rubbed one shoulder, the girl looked back down at Tonio, tilting her head and a lock of black hair fell into her face. She kept her question to herself noticing the shadows were growing larger.

He chuckled faintly. "Ouch. That's probably worse than a wooden spoon ever could be." He paused, studying her face and seeming to notice she had a question on her mind. "...'sup Dolly?"

"Nothing, well, something," the Paper witch admitted, "But I think it might have to wait." she said and reached down to touch one of the shadows curling around his arms and poking at the white jacket.

"Oh? Why?" Tonio asked before looking at himself and seeming almost to cringe. "...oh, that's why..." He sighed and closed his eyes. "There just ain't enough time in the worlds, eh?"

"If I get good at summoning it'll be as long as my magic can support you," Cassidy offered, reaching over to grasp the phantom's larger hand.

He smiled a bit as he felt Cassidy take hold of his hand, gently closing his fingers over hers and giving a faint, content sounding sigh as he opened his eyes and smiled up at her. "Guess I'll just have to learn patience 'til you get that figured out then."

There was a moment of silences, before Cassidy ducked down and gave Tonio another kiss on his forehead, before resting hers against it.

All at once, the Phantom's hair turned a vibrant shade of pink, and he gave her a sheepish little smile. "Sneaky girl." He teased lightly, his voice showing all too plainly that he rather liked the sign of affection.

"Maybe a little..." Cassidy smiled, keeping her eyes closed.

Tonio chuckled quietly, though he got an odd tingling feeling crawling up his frame that he knew meant he didn't have much longer before he was gone. As the shadows curled up higher, now licking at his chest, he shifted and reached up, lightly cupping Cassidy's head with his hands, and smiling almost sadly before gently kissing her forehead. "I'm glad I got to meet you Dolly..." He said quietly, letting go of her head and gently stroking her cheek with his finger before it was overtaken by the shadows. His smile grew a little more as he stared up at her for a moment, sighing faintly before closing his eyes.

"Goodbye..." And as he said these last words, the shadows covered him fully, and he faded away, the Shadow Realm reclaiming its 'lost' Phantom, and leaving Cassidy alone once more.

The paper witch folded her hands into her lap, no longer feeling any weight. "Bye," She said smoothing her cloths, and hopped that the cupcake she put in Tonio's pocket made the trip with him and her fuzzball.


End file.
